The Orville: New Horizons is nearly here, and soon Hulu subscribers will get to see Seth MacFarlane's Captain Ed Mercer back with the rest of the crew for another round of action-packed adventurea. The first full-length trailer for its third season (and first for streaming) reveals a bit of what's to come, and perhaps surprisingly, it all feels pretty serious and dramatic. We also hear Ed drop an iconic Star Wars quote because, of course, the guy who created Family Guy has to have a bit of levity in his show, right?
Season 3 of The Orville is titled "New Horizons," so it tracks that Ed Mercer makes note that they're headed into previously uncharted territory. When encouraged by Kelly to pass on some words to the crew, the best Ed can muster up is a fairly generic pep talk chased by the ever-repeated Star Wars quote:
We're about to enter unexplored space. I know you're all just as excited as I am, so let's give this everything we've got and...may the Force be with you.
Outside of that quote and a couple of other moments, however, it feels like The Orville: New Horizons will lean into the more dramatic tone of its series. We see aliens make serious threats to Ed and even what looks like the setup for some big space battles. There's even a sad scene with Isaac facing some discrimination, likely due to him being a Kaylon. It all feels surprisingly heavy for The Orville, but based on how well I enjoyed the more serious content of Season 2, I'm not complaining. Hopefully, there are more seasons planned based on just how great this trailer looks, though it may not happen, given everything that Seth MacFarlane has going in his career currently.
Perhaps the most comforting thing about anticipating the premiere of The Orville: New Horizons is that Season 2 didn’t end on some massive cliffhanger that fans have waited three years to see the payoff to. One thing they do have to look forward to is some new cast members, including actress Anne Winters’ Ensign Charly Burke. A new series regular almost certainly will help shake up the dynamic of the crew, and maybe even present some new opportunities for exciting storylines. I guess fans will find all that out soon enough, as the wait for the return of this great series is almost finally over.
After a long period of delays, The Orville: New Horizons premieres on Hulu on Thursday, June 2nd, with weekly releases every Thursday. There's still time to binge the first two seasons for anyone who hasn't had a chance to do so, and if you're a fan of sci-fi who enjoyed The Orville, I'd recommend reliving all the space-faring fun again just to remember where everything left off.
